Funny Survey in Pakistan: Most Pakistanis are pacifist, says survey

Read the Survey carefully, you may find funny one-liners such as "Most of them (31.2pc) were of the opinion that this is (pakistan lags behind other nations) because they had deviated from Islam"

This is what you call a survey conducted by the people with stone-age mindset, for the people of stone-age mentality!=xD=xD

ISLAMABAD: A majority of Pakistanis donâ€™t approve of Islamabadâ€™s decision to join the US-led war on terror but, at the same time, they donâ€™t believe that the Taliban are fighting for Islam, according to a survey carried out by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (Pips).

Findings of the â€œRadicalisation in Pakistanâ€ survey released on Tuesday show that 63.6 per cent of the respondents were against joining the war on terror, and 46.3pc were of the opinion that the Taliban were not fighting for Islam.

Even among those who sounded sympathetic to the militant organisation, 39.7pc condemned its acts of violence, such as attacks on girlsâ€™ schools, cinemas and CD shops. But about 22pc of them did not know how to respond to such acts.

According to the survey report, Taliban has sympathisers mostly in Balochistan (49.4pc) and Punjab (30.1pc) who believe that they are fighting for Islam.

Surprisingly, there are not many Taliban sympathisers in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Only 22pc respondents in Fata and 25.3pc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe the Taliban are fighting for Islam.

However, 45.7pc of the respondents in Fata did not respond to the question.

The report reveals that Taliban do not enjoy much support in Sindh, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The respondents appeared concerned about the condition of Muslims and 77.7pc thought that they lagged behind other nations. Most of them (31.2pc) were of the opinion that this is because they had deviated from Islam. Only 18.1pc maintained that it was due to their backwardness in the fields of science and technology.

Another significant finding is that a large number of people (46.8pc) want religio-political parties given a chance to rule the country, despite the fact that the electoral performance of these parties were not â€œimpressiveâ€™ in October 2002 when analysts attributed whatever success they achieved to the strong anti-American sentiments in the country.

The respondents also expressed interesting views on Jihad.

Very few (2.7pc) were of the view that Muslims had failed to progress in the world because they had lost their passion to fight against their enemies. About 28pc people believed that Jihad should be waged against cruelty and not to spread Islam to every corner of the world as five per cent of the respondents believed.

A large number of the respondents (20.4pc) were concerned about religious differences in the country. They blamed these disagreements for sectarianism and religious extremism.

However, a large number of people (21.6pc) did not take the disagreements seriously and said that these had been preordained and prophesied. The survey clearly captures growing religiosity among the masses.

Not surprisingly, 65pc of the respondents said a person who did not pray five times a day could not become a better Muslim. Nearly 59pc of them said the struggle for implementation of Sharia was also Jihad.

However, about 81pc of the respondents considered female education as â€œextremely necessaryâ€ and only a small percentage (12.5) thought it was â€œnot very importantâ€.

Nearly 23pc of the people surveyed said they did not listen to music, and (15.8pc) of them said it was because of religious reasons.

Interestingly, 51pc of the total sample endorsed Junaid Jamshaidâ€™s decision to quit singing.

The respondents were from all urban and rural areas in the four provinces, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir (excluding military restricted areas).

The survey population was selected through probability/random sampling. Most of the people (53.4 and 14.8pc, respectively) belonged to urban areas and small towns. But a significant proportion (29.9pc) came from the rural community. A large majority of the respondents were either in intermediate (29.3pc) or pursuing a graduation or masterâ€™s degree (37.5pc).

Only 8.3pc of the people were not literate and 2.2pc had received only madressah education.

Interestingly, the general perception about the wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir is at variance with the recent militant discourse.

What so funny about the survey?????31.2pc are right when they say that the deviation from islam is reason for its lagging behind.Remember pakistan was established as islamic country and deviation from islam is what bought it into present mess.What islamic ideology different terror groups are fighting for is not the real islam.you can call it the political islam of wahabi/deobandi ideology.Alas both these islamic ideologies are also imported into pakistan from saudi arab and india respectively...

What so funny about the survey?????31.2pc are right when they say that the deviation from islam is reason for its lagging behind.Remember pakistan was established as islamic country and deviation from islam is what bought it into present mess.What islamic ideology different terror groups are fighting for is not the real islam.you can call it the political islam of wahabi/deobandi ideology.Alas both these islamic ideologies are also imported into pakistan from saudi arab and india respectively...

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Are you being sarcastic or you really think deviation from Islam (after slaughter of more than a million) is the reason for the mess, and not propagation of Modern Education, development, investment in public services, employment generation, expanding horrizons of trade and commerce et all, being the true reasons; and how can anyone enjoy fruits of development by being religious (off-course when you don't have oil)! Come-on you have gone off topic!

no i'm not trying to be sarcastic.I'm just trying to reason into the false ideology of wahabism/deobandi which people think as real islam.Btw both of these ideologies are not native to pakistan.they came from saudis and india as i 've mentioned above.Before passing off NWFP as wild west of pakistan how many people here know that it had the most secular peole and still its main ruling party ANP is most secular one.How many know about the seemant gandhi khan abdul ghaffar khan's non-voilent movement of khudai khidmatgar in whole of pukhtoonwa here.How many here knows about the congress always ruled NWFP province till 1947.People of NWFP still feel betrayed by congress when it left NWFP on the mercy of muslim league.check out one of the videos of bacha khan where he said that to the words....congress ne to humko yateem chor diya..Clearly anguish was visible on his face.

no i'm not trying to be sarcastic.I'm just trying to reason into the false ideology of wahabism/deobandi which people think as real islam.Btw both of these ideologies are not native to pakistan.they came from saudis and india as i 've mentioned above.Before passing off NWFP as wild west of pakistan how many people here know that it had the most secular peole and still its main ruling party ANP is most secular one.How many know about the seemant gandhi khan abdul ghaffar khan's non-voilent movement of khudai khidmatgar in whole of pukhtoonwa here.How many here knows about the congress always ruled NWFP province till 1947.People of NWFP still feel betrayed by congress when it left NWFP on the mercy of muslim league.check out one of the videos of bacha khan where he said that to the words....congress ne to humko yateem chor diya..Clearly anguish was visible on his face.

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I know all that, I would like to tell you 1 more thing i.e. before 1967/69 pakhtunkwa used Indian currency and not pakistani rupee, which became a major concern for pakistani establishment as they saw this issue as Indian commerce taking over pakistan territory (on which they never had any control), and the Frontier Gandhi never considered himself as a Pakistani. Pakistani women never wore Burkha its a recent trend with madrasa going population, as Burkha is typical Saudi repressive dress-code blah blah blah and blah...But again, all this is off-topic!

I dont know what the Respondents said by Deviation from Islam, but all I know is that the Islam being followed in Pakistan is not Islam at all. Its the hardcore terrorist doctrine which has brought Pakistan to the mess it is in, importer or otherwise. If they followed this simple principle of Islam, we wouldnt be having bomb blasts in India, nor would they be having bomb blasts in Pakistan.

"Do not let your hatred of a people incite you to aggression" (The Quran 5:2)

And BTW, Many Highly educated Pakistanis exposed to Western Ideas were the first one to become terrorists. It goes onto show, that these Idiots, no matter how educated they get, once they set out to Kill, they KILL!!! Nothing else matters in the end.

Majority of the respondents also felt Female Education is necessary, which is good, but then how credible is this survey?

Lastly, This article should not be the basis to defame a religion, because if done so, it just shows the petty attitude and brings out your real age. So stick to the academic pov. God Speed

I dont know what the Respondents said by Deviation from Islam, but all I know is that the Islam being followed in Pakistan is not Islam at all. Its the hardcore terrorist doctrine which has brought Pakistan to the mess it is in, importer or otherwise. If they followed this simple principle of Islam, we wouldnt be having bomb blasts in India, nor would they be having bomb blasts in Pakistan.

"Do not let your hatred of a people incite you to aggression" (The Quran 5:2)

And BTW, Many Highly educated Pakistanis exposed to Western Ideas were the first one to become terrorists. It goes onto show, that these Idiots, no matter how educated they get, once they set out to Kill, they KILL!!! Nothing else matters in the end.

Majority of the respondents also felt Female Education is necessary, which is good, but then how credible is this survey?

Lastly, This article should not be the basis to defame a religion, because if done so, it just shows the petty attitude and brings out your real age. So stick to the academic pov. God Speed

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Who is defaming any religion? Clearly, I have been talking about the mind-set pakistanis have, and how they approach a problem or an issue i.e. for every mess the solution lies with the religion, this particular notion believed by pakistanis gives me chuckles!
God Speed to you too!

Who is defaming any religion? Clearly, I have been talking about the mind-set pakistanis have, and how they approach a problem or an issue i.e. for every mess the solution lies with the religion, this particular notion believed by pakistanis gives me chuckles!
God Speed to you too!

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I didnt say anyone is defaming any religion here! I said it should not be the basis for defaming. Do read up carefully before your comment on my posts please. God Speed

And Yes, Pakistanis equate everything to Islam. For them Religion is everything, but coming to practice, they are the worst practitioners Islam ever had. Hypocrisy and Religion go hand in hand. True there were good folks in Pakistan, Peace loving, nice people, but I guess they all were killed off in the Bomb blasts. All that remains is Silly Expatriate Pakistani Kids representing Pakistan on the Internet, and Corrupt Politicians and Then Terrorists! God Save Pakistan, thats what they should be praying for! God Speed

Introduction
Pakistan has adopted a two-pronged strategy to fight the menace of religious militancy: it has tried
to undertake development activities in the troubled northwest of the country, hoping to wean its
people from militant influence by addressing their economic grievances; and it has launched
numerous clear-and-hold military operations in militant-infested areas, trying to prevent terrorist
threat from reaching its urban centers.
Militant violence has, however, become endemic in recent years. In 2009, militants killed at least
3000 people in Pakistan.i While the top leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Baitullah
Mehsud, was targeted in a drone strike, the militant outfit managed to regroup and launch
audacious attacks against the countryâ€™s security forces.ii The group also extended the area of
conflict to Azad Kashmir where, for the first time, two suicide attacks were recorded.iii Apart from
that, the local Taliban started targeting civilians with greater impunity, killing hundreds of
innocent women, children and university students.iv
It became amply clear in this context that military prowess and economic incentives, while
necessary to win the war, were not enough to prevent religious radicalization in the country. The
Pak Institute for Peace Studies conducted the following survey to examine the phenomenon more
closely. The target population consisted of all urban and rural territories of the four provinces,
Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (excluding
military restricted areas).General Profile
The survey population was selected through probability/random sampling. Most of the people
(53.4 and 14.8 per cent, respectively) belonged to urban areas and small towns. Yet a significant
proportion (29.9 per cent) also came from the rural community. A large majority of the respondents
were either in intermediate (29.3 per cent) or pursuing a graduation or masterâ€™s degree (37.5 per
cent). Barely 8.3 per cent of the people were illiterate and 2.2 per cent had only received madrassah
education.
Most of the respondents were not very affluent: only 21 per cent used private vehicles while 50.1
per cent relied on public transportation. A large number of these people belonged to the salaried
class â€“ as many of them were employed in public (19.6 per cent) and private (21.1 per cent) sectors
â€“ while only 15.3 per cent ran their own business. Meanwhile, 14.6 per cent of the people were
without a job.
Despite the meager resources of these people, they seemed to be well-entrenched in their
community, with 77.4 per cent living in their own houses. However, there were signs of family
pressure and about 79 per cent people said they were living in a joint family system.
A large proportion of these people displayed their conservative streak when asked about women
in the social arena: 67.2 per cent of them thought it was a womanâ€™s â€œreligious dutyâ€ to veil herself.
Similarly, 48.8 per cent believed that she should not get the right to divorce.
Meanwhile, nearly 23 per cent people did not listen to music. Many of them (15.8 per cent)
attributed their decision to religious reasons. Interestingly, 51 per cent of the total sample endorsed
Junaid Jamshaidâ€™s decision to quit singing.Religious Concerns
The participants of the survey were visibly concerned about religion: 77.7 per cent of them thought
that Muslims were lagging behind other nations in the world. Most of them (31.2 per cent) claimed
this was because they had deviated from Islam. Only 18.1 per cent maintained that it was due to
their scientific and technological backwardness.
It is also important to note that a significantly large number of people (46.8 per cent) said that
religio-political parties should get a chance to rule the country. This is despite the fact that these
parties only showed an impressive electoral performance in October 2002 when many analysts
attributed their success to the strong anti-American sentiment in the country.v Interestingly, 63.6
per cent of the respondents believed that Pakistanâ€™s decision to join the US-led war on terror was
incorrect.
However, a majority of people participating in the survey (46.3 per cent) was also wary of the
Taliban. They categorically denied that the militant group was fighting for Islam. Even a large
percentage of those who looked sympathetic to the radical outfit either condemned (37.9 per cent)
its acts of violence â€“ such as attacks on CD shops, girlsâ€™ schools and cinema etc â€“ or did not know
(21.9 per cent) how to react to them.
Most of the respondents also expressed interesting views on jihad. Very few (2.7 per cent)
maintained that Muslims had failed to progress in the world since they had lost their passion to
fight against their enemies. Similarly, about 28 per cent people believed that jihad amounted to
fighting against cruelty, not to spread Islam in every corner of the world (5 per cent). Many of them
(20.4 per cent) were also concerned about internal religious differences. They maintained that these
disagreements had led to sectarianism and religious extremism. However, a bigger proportion of
people (21.6 per cent) took them casually, claiming that they were preordained and prophesied.Conclusion
The question is: what do these findings signify?The survey clearly captures growing religiosity among the masses. It is not surprising that 65 per
cent of the respondents said that a person who did not pray five times a day could not become a
better Muslim. Nearly 59 per cent of them contended that the struggle for the implementation of
Shariah was also jihad. But despite their conservatism, about 81 per cent of the survey population
also considered female education as â€œextremely necessaryâ€. Only a small percentage (12.5) thought
it was â€œnot very importantâ€. Similarly, 58.7 per cent of the people felt that women should be
allowed to work outside their home. However, nearly 40 per cent of them disagreed with the
proposition.All these findings indicate that the average Pakistani takes his religion seriously and wishes to see
it in the public domain. But, unlike the Taliban, he does not want to make it claustrophobic for
other people. The average Pakistani thus wants to look progressive in a conservative framework.
He is caught between two competing narratives: the first one, which is primarily grounded in
religion and is now championed by militant groups, makes him want to see his religion triumph;
the other, usually trotted out by the government and the media, is mostly based on information
and rational analysis, making him realize the significance of progressing in the world.
It seems that both of these narratives are not resonating with him beyond a certain point. The
religious discourse developed by militant groups, for instance, emphasizes the significance of the
â€œAfghan jihadâ€. Many of the groups that were previously passionate about fighting in Indian Held
Kashmir shifted their focus of attention on Afghanistan to defeat the â€œcrusadingâ€ foreign forces.
They almost put their struggle in IHK on the backburner, as the two South Asian nuclear neighbors
began the normalization process in the region in 2004.

Interestingly, the general perception about the wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir is at variance
with the recent militant discourse. Nearly 55 per cent of the people maintained that the bloodshed
on the western side of the Durand Line was a â€œpolitical warâ€. Yet, 56 per cent of them thought that
fighting in Kashmir was the real jihad.
It is also interesting to note that most people (31.2 per cent), despite their passion for religion, were
shaken by Benazir Bhuttoâ€™s assassination instead of the Lal Masjid operation (29.1 per cent) or the
military campaigns in the northwestern territories of the country (8.4 per cent).
It is important to remember, however, that militant groups can use the growing religious fervor
among the people to their own advantage. The state must, therefore, try to transform the
ideological mindset by developing counter narratives and challenging the literal and extremist
interpretations of Islam.
Related Papers
1-Trends and Patterns of Radicalization in Pakistanhttp://www.san-pips.com/download.php?f=37.pdf
2-Jihad, Extremism and Radicalization: A Public Perspectivehttp://www.san-pips.com/download.php?f=38.pdf
3-Women Radicalization: An Emperical Studyhttp://www.san-pips.com/download.php?f=39.pdf
4-Litterateursâ€™ Response to Extremism in Pakistanhttp://www.san-pips.com/download.php?f=40.pdf